The Iraqi parliament voted on final provisions of the third amendment of the electoral law during a heated session that dragged on throughout the past night.
The assembly said in a statement that the legislators, at dawn today, cast their ballots on the third amendment according to Saint-Lague method. However, a number of the MPs opposed and tried to stop the session prompting the speaker to call in security forces to restore order.
A number of MPs posted video clips on the social media showing the security personnel driving them out of the session hall.
The parliament had voted on the modification on March 20. They cast their ballots on seven provisions out of 17 and in the latest session, they pursued voting on the remaining items.
Independent members of the parliament object to Saint-Lague vote count system because they believe it strengthens political parties’ “hegemony on the assembly.” The parliament had annulled the system in the previous elections held in 2021 and adopted the multi constituency system and vote count according based to the ones garnered by the first winner. This enabled many independent and individual to win these polls. (end) aha.rk
Source: Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)